US reports progress on Lebanese pullout

US mediators reported progress at Israeli-Lebanese negotiations Thursday on a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon and on relations between the two countries.

The negotiators agreed during their eighth round of talks to set up two subcommittees to deal with the major issues, and a third to discuss security arrangements along the border.

But Lebanon rejected and Israel remained firm on a key bargaining point: Israel wants its own soldiers to man early-warning stations in south Lebanon, as one means of ensuring that Palestinian guerrillas do not return to the area.